“Classical music may not be the first thing one expects to hear emanating from the hot, dusty Black Rock Desert during Burning Man,” the annual gathering in Nevada, writes Jamie Oppenheim on Thursday (7/20) at San Francisco State University’s website. “But SF State Assistant Professor of Music Brad Hogarth, 35 musicians, several dancers, sound engineers and light artists are planning to change that on Aug. 30 [with] a sunset performance of Igor Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ by the Playa Players Collective—a group of at least 75 artists, including fire-breathers and a contortionist. The Tree of Ténéré, a climbable, three-story tree with 25,000 LED leaves, will serve as the backdrop for the performance. Sound, movement and a person’s biorhythms control the tree’s lights, so it will be an integral part of the show…. This year’s performance is the brainchild of flutist Courtney Wise, who met Hogarth when they were students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Wise reached out to Hogarth, who offered to conduct, and Robert Dekkers, artistic director and founder of the Post:Ballet dance company, to create choreography.” Says Hogarth, “It’s going to be a visual spectacle, and there will be amplified sound pumping through speakers.”
Posted July 21, 2017
